Welcome to the ANNIVERSARY STRAT book site. If you want a copy of the book the order form is on the BUY A BOOK Page

“The meticulous collection of details is truly amazing . . . Gary has pulled off a fantastic project that I think will soon stand beside the other great books about this company called Fender.”

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— MICHAEL STEVENS

Owner of Stevens Electrical Instruments and co-founder of the Fender Custom Shop

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“The most comprehensive and detailed book on the history of the Anniversary Stratocaster, the elite Fender Custom Shop guitars, and the builders.”

— YURIY SHISHKOV

Principal master builder at the Fender Custom Shop

I can't thank these cool, talented, and generous guys enough for their kind words. A synopsis and some random pages from the book are included below. This detailed collection of fascinating guitar and people stories is A4 size with 340 pages and 174 photographs. Details of how you can acquire one of the 1,954 books in the limited run First Edition that was published in April 2019 are in the Buy a Book section. Pricing and the worldwide postal/shipping charges are also covered on the Buy a Book page. Each book is signed by the author and numbered in the style of 0001 OF 1954, and it's the perfect addition to any library. Best wishes and rock on!

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Gary

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THE STORIES & THE BACKGROUND

An extensively researched collection of stories about cool products and awesome people, ANNIVERSARY STRAT celebrates the diverse array of Fender commemorative model Stratocasters made in the USA. Part 1 chronicles these factory and Custom Shop guitars, and sheds light on how a few ended up in the hands of legendary players. More Custom Shop instruments are showcased in Part 2, as the personal stories of the master builders unfold and they reveal their favorite projects.

Ever since 1979, anniversary model guitars have been released by Fender to celebrate significant milestones in the company’s history. Consequently, an extensive range of commemorative instruments has shipped from the US factory and Custom Shop over the last forty years. Some distinctive and memorable Fender Strats have also been commissioned by third parties including publishers, motor industry manufacturers, entertainment organizations, and musical instrument stores, to celebrate their own noteworthy events.

"I would not have ventured on this huge undertaking, had I not been able to contribute something new to Fender-related literature."